About Organisation:

Mercy Corps is an international non-profit organization which implements high-quality, analytical development programmes in very difficult places. Mercy Corps has been operating in Uganda since 2006. It has and continues to implement programs in Acholi and Karamoja sub regions. Mercy Corps is taking a community-led, market driven approach to address poverty and food insecurity needs through interventions that get to the root causes and contributing factors of economic vulnerability.

Job Summary: Reporting to the Energizing Humanitarian Futures (EHF) Program Lead and in close coordination with the Global Platform for Action (GPA) Secretariat team management, the Project Coordinator will manage the implementation of the overall EHF project and lead Uganda-specific in-country activities for the EHF programme, including:

Engage with key stakeholders across the humanitarian and energy spaces, highlighting entry points and bridging opportunities. Represent EHF at events, working groups, conferences and stakeholder meetings, providing direct support and advisory to key government ministries.

Identify project opportunities and design and deliver energy programmes in collaboration with the wider stakeholder ecosystem (UN, INGOs, donors, financers, local and refugee led organisations, private sector companies and financial institutions, etc).

Contribute to the design and lead the delivery of tailored public-private partnership development workshops to co-create sustainable, market-driven energy solutions, primarily focused on refugee hosting districts.

Conduct technical assessments and scoping missions for development of new market-based energy access projects and programmes.

Provide technical support on the design and implementation of these projects, including refining business models, risk mitigation, financing strategies, collaboration with stakeholders and alignment with donors, government, and investor requirements.

Lead the delivery of donor-facing briefing notes based on the identified and supported projects, and advocate for their implementation.

Generate and disseminate knowledge based on EHF programme outputs as well as wider MC and GPA evidence generation.

The primary goal is to collaboratively identify and develop opportunities for market-based energy programmes and projects in refugee hosting districts, promoting engagement of private sector actors.

The Project Coordinator will coordinate closely with the GPA Secretariat hosted at UNOPS, which is recognized as the humanitarian energy convening body to advance SDG 7 – access to sustainable energy for all – in forced displacement contexts, along with GPA Steering Group members to provide ecosystem support and identify project opportunities. Under this close collaboration, the Project Coordinator will ensure that all data-driven research and consequent advocacy are aligned to strengthen and maximize impact.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

General

• Manages workplans, budget oversight, donor compliance, and reporting.
• Supports coordination with GPA Secretariat, GPA Steering Group members, and other global partners.

Uganda-specific

• Organizes workshops, scoping missions, and stakeholder consultations.
• Supports PPP incubation and project pipeline development in Uganda.
• Leads data collection and inputs.
• Manages relationships with government, private sector, INGOs and local NGOs, and leads in-country coordination, including sectoral networks.
• Ensures inclusion of refugee-led organizations and local actors.
• Leads on communications and MEL activities.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Proven expertise in advocacy vis-à-vis Government of Uganda, UN and INGOs is required.
• Previous experience working with UN and/or INGOs in energy or humanitarian teams is highly recommended.
• Previous experience of working in Uganda’s refugee response.
• 8+ years required providing technical support in sustainable energy access and/or climate resilience that includes:
• Grant writing, research, and proposal development.
• Technical advisory and advocacy.
• Stakeholder engagement, including working with local communities.
• Business development.
• Writing and publishing articles and blogs.
• Combining strong theoretical and applied knowledge of the field of expertise.
• Familiarity with integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.
• MEL, evidence generation and knowledge dissemination.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent preferred. M.A. or equivalent in a field related to humanitarian response, energy access, sustainable development, climate resilience, market systems development and/or energy or environmental engineering is advantageous.
• Familiarity with major donors such as USAID, FCDO, ECHO, and relevant foundations and corporations.
• Fluency in English is required; fluency in another language preferred.